I got another thing checked off my summer bucket list today!

We visited the Georgia Aquarium, which (in case you weren’t aware of it’s awesomeness) is the largest aquarium in the WORLD!

I’ve been before, but Jason had never been and Ashley was a baby the last time she went, so I felt like another visit was definitely in order. They have the aquarium split up into different climates/types of animals, which is great because it kind of makes you feel like you’re being transported to a different part of the world each time.

There were SO MANY different and beautiful animals, it is so worth the trip to see them all. Nature never ceases to amaze me. I was reminded of the Disney movie Oceans that we saw a few weeks ago, where the narrator said that it’s almost as if nature was testing out every possible combination of shapes, colors, and sizes when it created the creatures of the ocean.

It was crowded and there was a lot of walking involved, but we all had a blast seeing the animals. It was hard to take pictures and out of the few hundred I took, very few came out in focus (smudgy glass, moving animals, people walking in front of the camera, etc.)! But some did so that’s what matters. This was definitely a highlight of the summer for us.

(my brother David was there too but he doesn’t like it when I take pictures of him! 😛 I did get some with him anyways though!)

I think Ashley’s favorite part was 1. the dolphin show (which was BEAUTIFUL, but they don’t allow any photography! 🙁 ) and 2. the various “touching galleries” they have around the aquarium. Ashley go to pet a sting ray, a shark, a sea star, and a sea anemone!

I’m SO glad Jason and I got a long weekend off from work so that we could make this trip before the kids go back to school.

After we had seen all of the exhibits and both of the shows that the aquarium is offering right now (which, bee tee dubs, took us almost 6 hours including lunch), we went just around the corner to enjoy the warm afternoon and some cool refreshments.

Yeeaaaahhh…you can guess what I got.

I. Have. A. Problem. Clearly. I blame it on the heat…that works, right? I fully expect to have gained weight when I return home to Virignia (that’s the only place I have a scale), which is fine, but ice cream every day is not a healthy way to gain weight. Obviously. But I’ve discovered a way to control the ingredients inside so that it’s not purely sinful. Can you guess which item on my bucket list I’ll be checking off next?

• Go to the beach
• Bake a fresh peach cobbler
• Visit the aquarium
• Transfer family photos and videos onto computer
• Visit (ambush) the health food store
• Go to Sweet Auburn Market
• Make some homemade ice cream

While we were enjoying our cold treats, we had an amazing view of the Atlanta skyline.

I can feel myself missing Atlanta already. While I have NOT enjoyed working downtown for the summer, it did give me a chance to appreciate the city in a way I really never have before. My new camera has a setting that stitches frames together to make a panoramic picture, so I wasted no time trying it out from where we were.

There’s no place like Hotlanta.

Thanks for reading!

-Lauren